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Marketing to consumers is becoming more competitive, complex and
fragmented than ever. Nonetheless, entrepreneurs can make highly
informed advertising and marketing decisions based on user
behavior, and ultimately improve return on investment (ROI), but
most businesses leave this valuable information on the table.

The customer conversion journey today may entail a mix of paid
and earned media, as well as efforts digital and offline. The
only way to know which channels contributed to the customer
conversion is through smart measurement.

Enter attribution. Attribution is a way of
assigning values to marketing channels to determine which
contributed to the customer conversion, and where advertising and
marketing budgets should be allocated.

For example, say a customer sees your ad on their favorite news
site, but doesn’t take action. They later see it on a social
network and click the ad, but no conversion occurs. Finally, they
see your direct campaign ad on a specific site, click it and the
conversion happens. Attribution allows you to track all of this,
assign values, pinpoint high-influencing channels and prioritize
your marketing strategy.

There are three integral steps for integrating attribution into
your marketing campaign.

1. Choose an attribution model: There are a
number of attribution models, but among the most commonly used
include:

Last click. This assigns full credit to the
advertisement that was last clicked. According to a recent
survey, 80 percent of advertisers are using this attribution
model, though they consider it insufficient. Often, multiple
factors contribute to a customer conversion but this model
overlooks all of the channels that led the customer down the
purchase funnel. They may have seen the ad four times in multiple
places, gaining interest each time, but all of the credit would
go to that last ad.

First click/first touch point. This model is
similar to last click, but in the reverse. It gives full credit
to the first clicked ad or first ad displayed to the potential
customer, even if it didn’t lead to a conversion right away.

U-shape. This model assigns credit to the first
and last touch points. The thought process behind this model is
the first ad piqued their interest and the last got them to take
action.

Equal. This gives equal credit to each ad or
marketing piece the customer viewed. This, however, assumes all
ads or marketing efforts are created equal.

Full funnel. This assigns value throughout the
different stages of the customer’s journey, revealing powerful
insights into the role each ad or marketing piece played. You
might assign a certain percentage of the credit to the first ad
displayed, a portion to the first ad clicked on, some to the
email campaign and, finally, the call-to-action that got them to
convert. This allows you to rank the value of each marketing
piece and the channel that delivered it.

Test different models to find what works best for your
business based on your goals.

2. Find an attribution platform. Depending on
the type of campaign you are running, attribution can be built
into the system you are using. If it isn’t, you can use an ad
server to introduce it to the campaign. Ad retargeting companies
like AdRoll and Perfect Audience have this feature built in, as
does Facebook and Google’s DoubleClick Campaign Manager.

For attribution functionality, you can use web analytics
platforms such as Google Analytics, IBM Digital Analytics and
Adobe Site Catalyst. The other alternative is to hire an
attribution specialist to help guide you through the process.

3. A/B testing with attribution is the Holy Grail of
customer insights. Attribution combined with A/B testing
allows you insights into the channels that are best performing
and the ability to test different variables, such as calls
to action, value propositions and design, among others. It
essentially allows you to understand and optimize how your
marketing is impacting the entire sales cycle.

To figure out where your dollars are best spent, integrate
attribution into every component of the campaign. That includes
social networking ads, retargeting ads, email campaigns, direct
campaign ads, etc. The goal is to know “this banner ad, on this
site, or this email campaign with this subject line, resulted in
X amount of revenue.”